Page 9 of Truth or Pack

This was going to be intense, and I wasn't sure that my heart was up for this test.

Surely, last night was a bad dream. A nightmare induced by this awful storm. There aren’t two alphas and a beta downstairs that were most definitely my scent matches and absolutely unwelcome.

I glanced at my phone, sitting up when I saw it was after eight. Tapping on my mom’s contact, I called her.

Straight to voicemail.

Dad. My sisters. Everyone was, apparently, just ignoring me today. Or my mother had them all block me for the weekend in another one of her schemes.

Fucking hell my family was the worst.

It was way too early to call Bea if I wanted any kind of real support. Instead, I needed to head downstairs and figure out my fucking car situation.

Thank fuck I’d carried in all my stuff already or I’d be fucked. From what I saw in the lightning flashes last night, my entire roof was squished down over my backseat.

With that lovely picture in my head I threw on a hoodie and yoga pants, tossed my hair in a messy bun, and tucked my phone in my pocket.

The house was quiet as I silently stepped out of my room. I could see one of the guys passed out on the couch, the beta, curled in on himself so only a little blond hair poked out.

Mathias.

He didn’t stir as I snagged my keys from the counter and headed outside to assess the damage. If there was anything wrong with the house I’d have to tell my parents.

If they even bothered picking up. My mother was as petty as I was.

A thick branch was blocking the sidewalk so I bent down to pick it up. Just as I was standing to toss it aside a deep voice rumbled out, startling me.

I screeched, the branch flying toward the person, hitting him in the chest with a thud. My jaw dropped open in horror as Holt gaped at me, that ever-present frown stronger than ever.

“What the hell?” he asked, brushing off his shirt to clear the debris my attack left behind.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “You scared me. I thought I was alone out here. Maybe alphas shouldn’t sneak up on omegas.”

“Clearly,” he said with a grunt. “I was making sure everything out here was secure and taking pictures for insurance.”

At the reminder of my car I turned to see the damage. My chest tightened at the sight of my car in a crumbled mess.

I wasn’t lying last night. It was barely paid off and I was so fucking proud. I worked my ass off to manage it and now I was going to either have to pay out for fixes or buy a new one, depending on what insurance said.

“Insurance will take care of it,” Holt said in a sad attempt at reassurance. Clearly, he didn’t have any soft edges to offer me.

“Maybe yours. I doubt mine will cover much,” I muttered. “Not all of us grew up with silver spoons and trust funds.”

His eyebrows rose in disbelief.

“We went to the same private college,” he pointed out, like that explained everything.

“Yeah, and I worked my ass off to maintain thatscholarship. The same one that your fucking group nearly cost me with your bullshit lies and bullying. So, forgive me if I don’t take false reassurance from someone who never had to fucking work and scrape by to pay for things.”

By the time I finished my rant, my chest was heaving. He was stunned into silence, staring at me like I had lost my mind. I didn’t care how sexy he was or how good he smelled, I wasn’t about to fight with him here where anyone might see.

My omega loved the fight with her alpha and was urging me to keep going.

Instead I ran inside, grabbed my wallet, and started toward town.

All I knew was that I needed coffee and I never went to the store. My car was busted, so it looked like I was walking back to town. Even if it took me thirty minutes on foot.

That was just more time to get my head on straight and hopefully, kick their asses out of town.

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